A violent sex offender is expected to live in Winnipeg after being released from Stony Mountain Institution Thursday, where he was incarcerated for more than two decades.
The Manitoba Integrated High-Risk Sex Offender Unit (MIHRSOU) is warning Winnipeggers about the release of 55-year-old Marinus Willemse, a convicted sex offender considered a high-risk to re-offend against women and children.
Willemse was handed a 20-year sentence in 2001 after a series of harrowing offences in late 1999 during which he lured two girls, aged six and 10, into a secluded area and exposed himself.
That same day, he forced his way into a vehicle belonging to a woman and her eight-year-old daughter at a shopping mall and held a knife to the girl’s head, threatening to kill her if the mother didn’t cooperate.
In both incidents, the victims managed to escape to safety.
Three days later, Willemse — armed and wearing a balaclava — tried to rob a female clerk at a video store. He tied the woman up and threatened to shoot her but fled the scene when a customer showed up at the store.
In addition to these offences, he has a lengthy rap sheet going back to the early 1980s, including violent sexual assaults, attempted abduction of a group of children, and a 1984 incident in which he broke into a home and abducted a four-year-old girl from her bedroom.
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Upon his release Thursday, Willemse is subject to life-long conditions, including a ban from any public parks, swimming areas, daycare centres, school grounds, playgrounds or community centres where children under 16 are reasonably expected to be present.
He’s also prohibited from seeking any employment, or volunteering in a position that would give him any position of trust or authority over children under 16, and is barred from having any contact with a person under 16 unless under court-recognized supervision.
Willemse is also subject to a lifetime weapons ban and strict probation restrictions that must be followed.
Although he has participated in some treatment programs, police said he’s still seen as a high-risk to re-offend in a sexually violent manner against women and children.
Anyone with information about Willemse is asked to call the MIHRSOU at 431-489-8056, Winnipeg Police Service at 204-986-6222, your local RCMP detachment, or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.
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